We were very lucky last week to have the opportunity to go spend the day at a beautiful beach on the Siaosnun Nation’s land with Christine, Wayne and Shirley.

In the days leading up to this trip we visited the lagoon near our forest to wonder and explore about the things that live at the beach. We came up with a list of things we wanted to learn about.

“How do clams move under water?”

“How to clams eat?”

“What lives there?”

Finally our day with Christine was here! We started out by exploring the tidal pools, under the rocks and in the shallow water. Christine and some of the children dug for clams and searched for mussels for us to try later. Other children searched for crabs, starfish, eels, sea urchins, sea anemones, fish, clams, and mussels with Wayne.

“I found a baby eel! I couldn’t see any eyes. I think it smells to see”. 

“It was too slippery to catch!”

One child noticed that the star fish was eating something! Another noticed that some of the eels were small and others were long! We noticed that some of the star fish were so small and they attached to our coats!

After we collected enough clams, we met Shirley back on the beach. She shared a blessing and then we all got to do a water blessing with her. She handed us a cedar branch that she dipped in a shell that was filled with special water that had been collected from around the world. As we spread the water into the ocean with the cedar, we shared our good thoughts for others around the world as well as our wishes for the ocean.

While this was happening the clams and mussels were streaming in a pot on a small stove. Each child had the opportunity to try some and many children did! Some children went back for seconds and thirds!

We had a picnic lunch, did a scavenger hunt and then explored the beach some more. We built a structure and found a snake!

It was a day full of wonderful learning, trying and discovering new things, meeting new people and creatures. Thank you to Shirley, Christine and Wayne for such a wonderful day.

(Written by Erin Van Stone, Nature K ECE)